well she goes to the toy and will put it in her teeth but will not give it to me what can I do?:pawprint:

hazelrunpack

May 4th, 2009, 08:59 AM

Fetch can be broken up into a number of different tasks, and then combined into a final routine.

The first part is the chase. Sounds like your girl has that down pat.

The second part is the pick up...which your girl has also already mastered. :D

The third part is the retrieve, which is basically just a recall.

The fourth part is the release.

You can practice all the parts separately. Since your dog already has the first and second part down, start working on the recall and release.

The way I work on recall is to train them to come to the whistle, although any command (verbal, hand, whistle, etc) will work. Then, as we're wandering around the house or yard, I'll give the recall command and reward with whatever turns them on--pats and praise with the occasional treat keeps ours coming.

At the same time, I'll train for the 'give'. Offer a toy with the command 'take'. When she takes it, praise. When she gets the idea of 'take', I'll spice it up. When she takes it I won't release it. So she's got one end, I've got the other. Tell her 'give' and when she releases it, praise her up, and give the toy back to her. (If you have trouble getting her to release, try blowing softly across her ear opening. :D Seriously, it works! :thumbs up) You give the toy back so that she realizes she's not going to automatically lose the thing she wants by being an obedient girl--makes her more likely to want to cooperate.

Once she has the idea of 'give' and her recall is good, put everything together.

Toss the toy, wait till she picks up; give your recall command; when she approaches, use your give command. It might take a few weeks, but this method has worked for us. And when the dogs figure it out, you can see that they're quite pleased with themselves. :dog:

horsesinusa

May 4th, 2009, 08:35 PM

thank you very much I will tell you how it goes

Romeo's #1 Fan

May 4th, 2009, 10:26 PM

Thanks for the information - I'm working on the release with Romeo (my almost year-old mixed pug chihuahua), he has the chase, pick up and bring back down to a T, but he does not like to let that toy go. :rolleyes: The funniest is with a tennis ball, he literally prances like the Clydesdales when he comes back with that. :laughing:

horsesinusa

May 5th, 2009, 09:43 PM

how do you do step 2 she will no do that now HAHAHA

hazelrunpack

May 5th, 2009, 10:15 PM

Usually, if they don't pick up the toy, I'll train them to 'take'. You still combine the 'take' with the 'give', you just have to back up a step and get them to learn 'take' instead of relying on them to snatch it by themselves :D

It helps if you have something she can't resist--whether it's a toy or a sock or whatever, it doesn't matter. (Brier likes to steal bath towels :rolleyes: so that's what I used with him.) Any time she takes it in her mouth, give your command 'take' and praise her up. Eventually, she'll associate the command with the action and will begin to 'take' on command. Then you can add the 'give'...

One thing you should keep in mind--not all dogs like to fetch. So even if you can train her to fetch on command, she may not enjoy it. Cole can do a perfect fetch, but it bores him. So I don't subject him to it too often. :D

horsesinusa

May 7th, 2009, 04:56 PM

oh ok thanks

King

May 10th, 2009, 05:53 PM

I was taught to bring the toy to my thigh and say let go I am not to let it go or loosen my grip. However I have a small dog so I can't bring it to my thigh I bring it as high as I can.

Etown_Chick

May 10th, 2009, 10:14 PM

With scruffy, who's darn near the best fetch/bring/drop doggie I've ever seen, once I knew what he expected of me when I told him to "DROP TOY", if he didn't I'd walk away. Game over. He wants the game to continue. That's his reward - he drops it, we keep playing.
He learned very quickly. But that was his motivation, he loves the game. If he didnt it would have been harder, I am sure.
Heck if we're at the park, and he gets distracted and forgets to chase the ball, I just point to it and to 'bring toy' and he runs off and gets it.
Amazes everyone! I just don't tell them it's his only trick heh heh.
Hazel has it right on - break the game into parts, teach one, master it, add another, etc. As long as it's fun, they learn quickly.